The problem of "dirty food": Practice and solutions

The problem of dirty food

Food that is not hygienically safe will be easily contaminated by physical, chemical, and biological agents, and if consumed will be harmful to the body. The immediate impact can cause food poisoning from mild to severe such as stomach ache, vomiting, diarrhea...

However, more dangerous is the long-term accumulation of toxins in dirty food causing chronic consequences without immediate external manifestations, the most dangerous of which is cancer.

Nowadays, dirty food appears a lot, consumers have difficulty in recognizing, difficult to distinguish between dirty food and clean, safe food. 

Recently, the authorities have discovered many foods of unknown origin.

On May 27, Market Management Team No. 4 of Quang Ninh province coordinated with the Economic Police Department and the Customs Control Team to inspect a frozen warehouse in Village 5, Quang Nghia Commune, Mong Cai City. Here, the authorities discovered many foods of unknown origin.

Through inspection, the authorities discovered 25 tons of frozen squid, 300 kg of beef tripe and 160 kg of chicken feet in the warehouse, stored in cardboard boxes and plastic baskets. Many shipments had an odor and had no labels or information about their origin.

One of two bean sprout production facilities in Lao Cai was discovered using toxic chemicals. (Illustration photo)

Recently, Lao Cai Provincial Police announced that they had discovered and destroyed two establishments in Lao Cai City that used toxic chemicals to produce hundreds of tons of bean sprouts for sale on the market. About 350 tons of bean sprouts were incubated with chemicals harmful to health and distributed to many traditional markets and vegetable stores in Lao Cai Province and neighboring localities over the past year.

In 5 months, the Ho Chi Minh City Market Management discovered 50 tons of frozen organs, one ton of beef jerky of unknown origin, and 18,200 bottles of smuggled beer. The information was given by Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy, Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Market Management Department, at a press conference providing economic and social information on the afternoon of May 15, when information about the situation of dirty, poor quality food, and goods of unknown origin had complicated developments in the area. According to Mr. Huy, in the face of the complicated situation of dirty food and goods of unknown origin circulating,Ho Chi Minh City has increased inspections of items such as fresh food, pre-packaged products, sugar, frozen animal organs... that directly affect consumers' health. Common violations include trading in food of unknown origin; using expired ingredients for processing; violating regulations on labeling and food hygiene and safety.

The situation of false food advertising, abuse of pesticides, veterinary drugs, and growth stimulants is complicated. Food safety in industrial zones and educational institutions is not guaranteed... All of these have a great impact on food security and safety. 

The production and consumption of dirty food not only threatens public health but also has a negative impact on the country's socio-economic development. 

Food safety assurance work has also revealed many shortcomings and limitations in direction, inspection, and supervision. Many production and business establishments violate food safety regulations.

"Solving the problem" of food hygiene and safety

From the above cases, it can be seen that food safety is a constant concern for consumers. "Dirty" food not only affects health but also leads to a decline in labor productivity. However, for immediate profit, people still find ways to smuggle "dirty" food into the market with many sophisticated tricks. It is worth noting that the sanctions are still light, so "dirty" food still has a "place to live". 

For our country as well as many developing countries, food is a strategic product with very important economic significance.

National Assembly Delegate Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap delegation). Photo: National Assembly Portal

Through the practice of contacting voters, according to information on the People's Representative Newspaper, delegate Pham Van Hoa (Dong Thap delegation) commented that this is a story that causes a lot of indignation. Because these products can be consumed every day, appearing freely on the market. However, it is worth mentioning that these incidents have continued for many years, only when the mass media and newspapers continuously reflect, causing "waves" of public opinion, then the authorities have stepped in to inspect and detect. Therefore, strictly handling these cases is extremely urgent.

“I think that monitoring, checking and inspecting is a job that must be done regularly and continuously by the authorities. Only then can we ensure food safety and hygiene for consumers. I think that in the past, some authorities in this field have been negligent and irresponsible, so we should seriously review and control this issue,” delegate Pham Van Hoa emphasized.

Expanding on the issue of State management related to the control of dirty food of unknown origin, delegate Pham Van Hoa said that the National Assembly is discussing the Draft Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Product and Goods Quality, this is also the time to tighten the legal aspect of products and goods that can directly affect the health of consumers. 

"The most important thing is to regulate prohibitions for production facilities, organizations and individuals trading in food products. It is necessary to strictly punish those who cover up and obstruct the authorities from performing their duties.

State agencies also need to take drastic action, regularly inspect and examine production and business establishments serving consumers, trace the origin of products, investigate the processing stage, and the origin of raw materials. Only then can we ensure the safety of people's health," said delegate Pham Van Hoa.

The Ministry of Health said that currently, sanctions for violations of food safety have been fully regulated and ensure deterrence. The maximum fine is up to 7 times the value of the violating goods for all violations, and additional penalties are applied...

The Ministry of Health received a dispatch from the Petition Committee - Standing Committee of the National Assembly requesting a response to voters' petitions sent after the 8th session of the 15th National Assembly, in which voters of Binh Phuoc province requested to consider and increase sanctions for violations of food safety and hygiene, ensuring effective deterrence, in order to limit the current situation of food safety and hygiene, which is greatly affecting people's health.

Responding to voters, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that currently, sanctions for handling violations of food safety have been fully regulated and ensure deterrence in Decree No. 115/2018/ND-CP dated September 4, 2018 of the Government on administrative sanctions for violations in the field of food safety, Decree No. 117/2020/ND-CP dated September 28, 2020 of the Government regulating sanctions for administrative violations in the field of health, and Decree No. 124/2021/ND-CP dated December 28, 2021 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the above two decrees.

These decrees stipulate a maximum fine of up to 7 times the value of the infringing goods for all violations, and apply additional penalties such as temporary suspension of operations, revocation of the right to use licenses, forced destruction of food, food recall, forced payment of food poisoning treatment costs, and return of an amount equal to the value of the infringing goods if the goods no longer exist.

In addition, the 2015 Penal Code (amended in 2017) in Article 193 stipulates the crime of producing and trading in counterfeit goods such as food, foodstuffs, and food additives, with the highest penalty of up to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.

Implementing the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long in Notice No. 20/TB-VPCP dated January 15, 2025 of the Government Office, the Ministry of Health is assigned to submit to the Government amendments to Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 2, 2018 of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety, in the first quarter of 2025 to handle urgent problems and inadequacies according to reality; at the same time, preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Security and relevant agencies to review, research and report to the Prime Minister on increasing the level of sanctions for food safety violations, to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.

On January 20, 2025, the Ministry of Health issued Document No. 78/TTr-BYT reporting to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long on the contents that need to be amended and supplemented in Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 2, 2018, including adding regulations on revocation and suspension of acceptance of Certificates of registration of product declarations, Certificates of confirmation of food advertising content, Certificates of establishments meeting food safety conditions, and at the same time clearly defining the cases and authority of revocation to increase strictness in handling violations, especially in cases where enterprises are dishonest when declaring products.

To strengthen the handling of administrative violations in the field of food safety, on February 3, 2025, the Ministry of Health issued Official Dispatch No. 556/BYT-ATTP to relevant ministries, branches and People's Committees of 63 provinces and cities to seek opinions on increasing the level of penalties.

The Ministry of Health will synthesize opinions and coordinate with relevant units to advise the Government to amend sanctions for violations of food safety, ensure law enforcement and enhance deterrence.

Thus, it can be seen that lax management, “loopholes” in policies, lack of business ethics and low social awareness have all created a vicious cycle that has caused the problem of fake food and “dirty” food to smolder for a long time. Therefore, the important thing both in the short term and in the long term is to urgently review, supplement and perfect the legal system.